Tolkien wrote to Stanley Unwin concerning a request made by Rütten & Loening Verlag. This German publishing house had enquired about a possible German translation, and asked Tolkien for a Bestätigung, a confirmation that he was Aryan. Tolkien asked Unwin whether they do this for all people of which they want to translate a work, or if it was because of his German sounding name. Though he could provide such confirmation, he refused to do so.

He had set up two drafts in reply to Rütten & Loening, and asked Unwin for his opinion, as he did not want to close the door on a German translation without Unwin's consent.